Fallout Zootopia Perdition
by Cider Stripes
Summary: Deep within the Rainforest District lies a secret. For over two hundred years, it has been hidden, surviving the ravages of war and time, but that secret will soon be unleashed upon the Zootopian Wasteland. Come back to the world of Fallout Zootopia and enjoy a new side story!
1. Perdition Prelude

**Prelude** :

October 23rd

2:22 AM

The Rainforest District. Quiet, listless, and mostly untouched by the ravages of war. Tall trees sway in an unseen wind as raised platforms and their connecting bridges chatter below the canopies. The occasional clanging echoes through the area as loose street signs quiver in the night's air. Leaves that once covered many of the trees lay dead upon the ground. Those that still kept their foliage cast eerie, moving shadows upon the ground as the moon drifted in the cloudless sky.

In the dark of night there are many tricks that the shadows can play upon the mammals that still call this their home. Windswept leaves mimicking the movements of larger things. Silhouettes cast by both sun and moon in an area that is never truly devoid of darkness. Even during the day, many mammals fall victim to the dangers that call out within the forest.

A trio of mammals appear from the depths of the trees, each of them encased in suits of metal that hide their true nature in this already hidden world. Their steps give them away, the metal clanking reverberating off of the cracked concrete on the floor below. The forest floor illuminated by their headlamps, searching for something in the dead of night.

Moving slowly, they scan everywhere, only splitting up when the trees gravitate too close for them to move comfortably. Even then, they regroup without a word, each seeming to know where the other two are going. A loud beep filled the mostly quiet night.

"This is Phannery. We're tracking the signal, but even our lights are having trouble piercing this darkness. How will we know what we are looking for when we find it?" The voice was distorted by the large helmet.

" _You'll know, but make haste before the Council finds out you're there. We don't have any patrols close enough to help, and if Chief Valiant finds out you went against his orders, there'll be hell to pay._ " The voice on the other end of the radio voiced his concern.

"Don't worry, if this beacon is what we think it is, it's value will outweigh any punishments the Chief'll dole out to us. Hell, we might even get a medal for it." A cracking noise echoed around them. "Going radio silent. We'll update you when we reach our destination."

" _Roger, and be careful._ "

Without another word, the three Steel Guardians raised their weapons and slowly moved forward, each watching the backs of the other two. It was slow moving, but they all knew the dangers that lay ahead. Or so they thought.

There were still hours away from dawn, and the deeper they got, the darker it seemed to get. Less and less moonlight shone down through the canopy as the artificial lights seemed to become much more inefficient at guiding their way. The only other light keeping their path was a flashing orange light on the arm of one of the Guardians. The mammal inside the armor occasionally looked at the light and altered their paths as it brought them farther and farther from anyone who could come to their aid.

A loud but unidentifiable noise stopped them in their tracks. They stood there, listening, but there was no other noise. Parts of the walkways and roads above often broke off and fell down to the forest floor. After a few moments, the mammals shrugged it off as such and resumed their travels.

Another noise, similar to the first occurred in a different direction, but that too passed. Then the noises started to get louder as they got closer, and closer. The Guardians stopped, placing their backs to each other as they scanned the surroundings, weapons at the ready.

"There!" One of them shouted as he pointed off into the darkness. "I saw movement!"

"Did you see who or what it was?" The mammal with the flashing orange light spoke.

"No Sir, but I know I saw something."

"Keep your guard up. I don't want any surprises." She said before returning to her spot at the backs of her comrades in arms.

"There! I saw it again! And there! I got two possible contacts!"

All three of them were now turned in the direction the Guardian was pointing, but there was nothing. The breaking of a branch behind them caused the lead Guardian to spin around. Nothing but trees and shadows. Soon all three of them were calling out movement, but none of them could be identified.

Then the woman screamed.

"Avery!"

The Guardian swung around to see Avery on her knees, her hooves scraping at her helmet.

"Avery! What's wrong?"

"Get it off! Get it off! They're everywhere!"

"Hornson! Stand guard while I check on her!"

The mammal in the rhino shaped headgear nodded and started to sweep his weapon around him, looking for something to shoot. Phannery, one of the two elephants, ran over to Avery as she continued to scrape at her form fitting helmet, attempting to remove it while in a panicked state.

Phannery hit the locking latches on either side of the headgear and helped her get it off. She threw it down and started to rub her armored hoof hard against her skin as if trying to violently wipe something off of her face.

"Get them off! Get them off!" She shouted frantically.

"Get what off? There's nothing there."

"The bugs, I hate bugs, I hate them, I hate them! They're trying to burrow into my face!"

"There's nothing on your face! Snap out of it!" He started to shake her as Hornson started to murmur something.

"No… no… You… you're' not…"

Phannery looked over to his other team member just as he dropped his weapons and to his knees just as Avery did, but instead of being in a panic, he was reaching out in front of him, muttering something inaudible.

"Hornson! What's the matter!"

"You… you're not supposed to be here, you… you're… why did you leave me?"

"We're right here Hornson! No one is going anywhere! Command, come in we have an emergency! Command, come in!"

Phannery tried to contact his fellow Guardians but the radio was filled with static. Hornson didn't appear to be in any immediate danger, so he kept his attention on Avery, but no matter how hard he tried to get through to her, she kept on insisting that her face was crawling with insects. Then he saw a shadow race around him.

Grabbing Avery's weapon, he followed its path, but only darkness and his two fallen comrades presented themselves to him. Then another movement. And another. Each time he turned towards it he caught only the tail end before whatever it was disappeared. He slowly turned, trying to catch it before it vanished again. Then he froze as his headlamp hit a figure.

It was a child, dressed in only rags. A young elephant that Phannery recognized instantly. It was a visage from his past, one that he had not forgotten, but never thought he'd see again. He kept his weapon steady. It can't be real, he thought.

"Daddy?"

The voice of the child caught him off guard as his weapon dropped slightly. "H-Huston? No, it can't be you…"

"Daddy? I can't see anything. Why can't I see you?"

"No… No, this, this must be some trick. You're not Huston, you're not real."

"Daddy?"

"You're not real…"

"I miss you daddy."

"You're not…" Phannery dropped his weapon and ran forward, tears started to well in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around the young child. It felt real to him. It felt very real to him.

"I can't see you daddy."

"It's okay, it's okay, daddy's here. I won't let anything happen to you again."

Suddenly, the entire area was awash in a bright light. Phannery was blinded for a moment, but when his eyes adjusted, the child was gone.

"Huston? Where did…"

He looked around and saw that the other two were starting to move, each of them as confused as he was. They looked around, the source of the light unknown.

"My… my wife… she left me, left me, but she… it was like she was right here…" Hornson's voice was filled with sorrow and confusion.

Phannery felt the same way. "I saw my son. He… dead but I saw him, I held him… How…"

Before anyone could respond, the light narrowed enough to show a point of origin. The three of them slowly got up as they recognized what it was. A giant tree, one whose trunk was wider than any other they saw held a large circular door in it. The gear shaped metal slab had the numbers Fifty-Three painted on it in a fading yellow paint.

"It's… a Burrow." Avery said, he voice showing she was starting to recover from the phantom insects.

"What is a Burrow doing all the way out here? And what the fuck happened just now? Did we all hallucinate?"

"I don't know Phannery, but we got a job to do." Hornson sounded as if nothing had happened. "We were looking for an arms cache, and we found a Burrow. Chief Valiant will want to know about this immediately. Get him on the horn."

Phannery tried a few times, but each time he got static. "I can't reach base."

"Try an outpost."

"I can't get anything on the radio, just static."

"Maybe we should open it and see if there's anyone inside. You know Chief Valiant wants to clear out every Burrow and reintroduce any survivors back into the world."

"You know just as well as I do Avery that not everyone wants that. Remember the last Burrow we found? Had to seal them away because the dumb bastards refused to leave."

"Didn't help that you brought that damn ghoul with us." Avery had a tinge of hate in her voice.

"You know well enough that that ghoul was one of the good ones. He also didn't deserve to be shot in the head by Burrow Security. But it was our fault for telling him to remove his mask. Damn Burrow Dwellers and their closed ways."

Phannery had moved over to the door control panel that was positioned about waist level to him while Hornson and Avery bickered, sounding like they had forgotten, or simply chose to forget, what just happened. Phannery kept seeing images of his son when he closed his eyes, but shook them off. He had a job to do.

He pulled a wire from his wrist computer and plugged it into a slot on the access panel. It beeped a few times and then seemed to growl at him in error. He tried a few more times and was met with the same results.

"Something's wrong. I can't access the disengage protocols."

"Maybe the things busted?" Avery scoffed. "Or maybe whoever is home doesn't want us to meddle in their affairs. Hell, for all we know it's empty."

"Then who turned on the light? No other Burrow had an automatic light on the door, but then again, most doors were a bit more hidden than this one. I'm surprised it's still sealed."

Phannery walked over to the door and looked it over. Scuff and burn marks showed that someone had tried to open it by force, but it was still standing. Those doors weighed more than three Tac-Lifters, no mammal alive could force that thing open. There was also no intercom like the other Burrows. This whole thing just screamed wrong to him.

Then the door started to rumble.

"Did you get it?" Hornson asked, trying to step out of the argument with Avery.

"I didn't do anything, it just started on its own."

After a few moments, the door started to roll to the side, but no light appeared from inside. The door suddenly stopped halfway. Phannery went back over to the control panel, but wasn't able to get the door to budge.

The door itself was only slightly higher than Phannery who was the tallest of the three, but the gap was barely large enough to squeeze through with his armor on. Hornson, who was the smallest of them, walked up to the door.

"I think I can get through in my suit. Here, hold my weapon."

"Be careful in there. Once in, make sure it's clear and try to see if you can get the door open from the inside. I really don't wanna have to get out of my armor in the middle of nowhere."

"Yeah, yeah. I know how to handle my own. Plus look at the size of this door, whoever lives here can't be much larger than a wolf."

"Wasn't it a wolf that nearly whipped your ass during basic training?" Avery snickered.

"He cheated, you all saw him!"

"Cut the bickering and do your job Hornson. I want to get out of here as soon as possible, this place is making my hide crawl."

Avery might have been the team's leader, but it often came down to Phannery to hold them all together. Sometimes he considers asking the Chief if he could swap with Avery, but she's too proud of her position to take a threat easily. And she's too valuable to the team to lose.

"I think… okay I'm in. There's a set of stairs going down. Descending them now." Hornson called from beyond the opening.

"Take it slow and easy. Once you get to the bottom check for any hostiles, get the lights on, and the door open. Switching to comlink. You read?" Avery said as she snapped back into Guardian mode. She and Hornson often bicker but when it comes down to it, she wouldn't want anyone else watching her back.

"Loud and clear. I don't see any signs of hostility, or of life for that matter." There was a few minutes of silence that made them uneasy. Then Hornson's voice came back. "I'm at the bottom, no signs of life yet. I do see what looks like a control room, I'm gonna check it. I'd stand back in case I get the door open."

"Just don't go sightseeing." Avery added as she turned to her fellow elephant.

"How you doing?"

"Still shook up. I mean, they felt so real. I could feel each leg skittering across my face, even the sharp pain as some started to chew their way into my skin. It felt so… horrible."

"I saw my son. It was as if he was standing right there. I even wrapped my arms around him and it felt so… real." Phannery looked at his arms and hooves as if they had betrayed him.

"What do you think caused it?"

"Some chemical weapon that those Council bastards made?" Phannery's voice gave way to his own uncertainty in those words.

"But we haven't seen any of them this entire time."

"Only other possibility is a radiation leak, but my detector still shows minimal doses. There's more radiation in a Rad! Cola than right here."

"Possibly a slow leak? From what I can tell, most of the Burrows were outfitted with fusion plants, some of which put even Guardian tech to shame. Who knows what kind of issues they could cause if even a single failsafe fried."

"We should have Hornson scan for radiation."

Avery nodded as we moved closer to the door. With her helmet still off, she stuck her face into the opening. "Hornson come in, we need you to check for radiation levels while you're in there. Both the suit and any master control you find."

The radio was quiet.

"Come in Defender Hornson, do you read?"

The only noise was of static over the radio. Phannery met with the same results when he tried to make contact. Avery tried yelling through the partially open door but was met with the echo of her own voice. She tried to squeeze in, but her suit was too big for the opening.

"He's in trouble. We gotta ditch the armor."

Phannery nodded, much to his dismay. She was right and the life of a fellow Guardian is worth more than some protection. He was just afraid what they might need protection from. Too many Burrow discoveries had ended in tragedy for this to go smooth.

Phannery went to disengage Avery's suit when there was a loud grinding noise. Instinctively, the two of them grabbed for their weapons as the door started to open. It was still dark inside, but as the large cog door rested into its new position, lights started to flicker on.

The room itself at the bottom was rather clean and free from clutter. A walkway connected the base of the stairs to the rest of it. There were a few crates with the Burrow-Tec logo on them, but no other sign that anyone even resided here. There were also no signs of their rhino companion either.

"Hornson! Defender Hornson where are you?" Avery shouted. Her only answer was the sound of her own voice reverberating in the large open room.

There was no sign of his armor or him anywhere. The two remaining Guardians slowly moved, guns at the ready towards the control room where he was last heading. Inside it looked as if no one had been there for a very long time. That was the first time they noticed the dust, and now it seems like everything was covered in it.

Phannery knelt down and grabbed some of the dust onto his armored hoof. "What is this? I've never seen a sealed Burrow have this much dust before. They might have a bad filtration system. If that's the case, best not to eat or drink anything we find."

"Right now all I want to find is Hornson and get the hell out of here. This place is giving me the creeps. Let some other group deal with this. There's nothing but bad vibes coming from this place."

"Agreed. If there is some kind of radiation leak, our suits can only hold back so much. You may wanna put your helmet back on Avery."

"Crap. I left it outside. Wait here and don't move an inch."

Avery slowly walked back to the door, but before she could reach the walkway leading to it, there was a series of flashing lights followed by a buzzing noise. Avery turned back to see if Phannery had done anything, but he was still where she left him, looking just as concerned as she felt.

Before Avery could say anything, there was a loud and familiar grinding noise as the door began to close. Avery's face turned from concern to fear, worry, and anger.

"What did you do?! Get that door stopped now!"

"I didn't do anything, it just started on its own!" Phannery expressed as he ran over to the controls for the door. He did everything he could but the door proved more adamant in its pursuit.

Avery was torn between saving her own hide and continuing the hunt for Hornson when her loyalty to the Guardians overrode any other feelings she had as she ran over to help Phannery, but it was too late. The door was now sealed, leaving them one mammal behind and on the wrong side of the door.

"How did this close on its own? Aren't these things supposed to be opened and closed by two authorized mammals?"

"That's what I thought, unless… "

" _Free…_ " A voice began to echo through the room, startling Phannery.

"Hornson, is that you?" Avery called out.

" _Free…_ "

Looking around for the source of the voice, they could see only two doorways. They both agreed that neither of them would let the other out of their site as they chose one door to start with. They surrounded each side of the door, weapons ready as it opened. It was just a utility closet. Just like the control room, everything was covered in a thick layer of that cream-colored dust.

" _Free…_ "

"This is Defender Avery of the Steel Guardians! Who if anyone is listening, we come in peace. We only want to determine the safety of this Burrow."

Silence. They waited for any response, when there was none they moved towards the other door. Hornson had to be here someplace, and they were determined to find him, and if this turned out to be another one of his jokes, neither of them would be happy, and neither would their Chief.

Once again, they surrounded the door as the panel was hit, but unlike the closet, the door didn't budge. Phannery moved to inspect it when the lights suddenly turned off, leaving them in pitch black. Even the emergency and backup lights were dark.

"Avery, don't move. It might be a trap." Phannery was reaching for his toolkit as he spoke those words, but when there was no response he paused. "Avery? Are you still here?"

The lights blinked back on, and she was gone. Nothing, not even her weapon was there. He knew she wouldn't have just bailed on him, but there were no readings of any life in this room, and with this door the only way out, she couldn't have gotten far.

"Daddy…"

The voice drove a chill down his spine. No, he thought, not again. He was alone, and his brain was playing tricks on him again. Phannery closed his eyes and wished for those bad memories to be gone.

"Daddy, who turned out the lights? I can't see daddy."

Phannery opened his eyes. It was pitch black again. He was hallucinating. He couldn't think straight and now his helmet was starting to fog up, despite the suit having temperature regulators to prevent it. His suit must be malfunctioning he thought. Breathing in too much CO2 can cause hallucinations. He called out for Avery one last time before taking off his helmet. It felt nice to be able to breathe but that thought was cut short as the lights flickered back on. Phannery turned to where Avery should be and was caught off guard when his face wound up in front of another familiar face, one that shouldn't be there.

"Daddy, I can't see."

"No… you're not real. You are not real…"

"Daddy? Where are you daddy?"

"You're not real! I said you're not…" He unintentionally grabbed the arms of the child before him and started to shake him. Once the physical feeling of a child in his hooves hit him, he started to cry. "You… you're real… b-but… how?"

"Daddy? Why you crying?"

"I-I… I thought I lost you…" He was having trouble holding back his tears.

"Daddy, I'm here. You didn't lose me. We're all here."

"What?" Phannery wiped his years and looked up at his son's face. "What did you say?"

"We…" the lights went out, and when they came back, Hornson and Avery appeared behind the child, "... are all here."

The child, who had his eyes closed the entire time finally opened them. Where the eyes should have been were empty sockets, as if they were torn out. Black looking blood started to pool and flow down his face.

"Free yourself daddy. Be free."

"Huston, what… what…"

"Free yourself." Avery and Hornson repeated in unison, their eyes now opened, hollow and bloody like the child's. "Free yourself and join us."

Phannery looked back to the child, unsure of anything and tears falling from his face. He wanted to scream, to run. He wanted to grab his gun and start shooting at everything that moved, but he was frozen. Frozen in fear, frozen in bewilderment. Frozen at the sight of his son, alive and standing right here.

The child reached out and wiped the tears from his father's face.

"Join us daddy, and we can be together forever."

"I… I…"

"Free yourself and see with eyes a new."

The voice changed, it was deeper and didn't belong to Hornson or Avery, or even his son. He tried to open his eyes but failed. Then, there was pain. Phannery felt warmth fall down his face as his eyes felt as if they were on fire. He tried to collapse but was held up, he tried to fight it but there was nothing to fight.

There was only one thing Phannery could do as the lights around him faded. He screamed.

All was dark in Burrow Fifty-Three again.

All but one light.

A flashing orange light.


	2. Perdition Part One

**Fallout: Zootopia**

 _ **Perdition**_

 **Part 1**

October 23rd

 _6:53 AM_

 _Beep_. _Buzz_. _Beep_. _Buzz_.

"Yeah, what is it?"

My head was killing me. The noise from my intercom did not help it any.

" _Huff and Ellie finally arrived and are getting geared up. Figured it was about time to wake your sorry ass up._ "

Was Huff here before I was awake? Damn, how much did I drink last night? I tried to get up but my head felt like it was full of bricks. Bricks with razor sharp edges. That was the last time I let that damn weasel convince me that one too many shots of liquor would erase all my troubles. He should have known better. Hell, I should have known better.

"Hey Penny, be a dear and get me some bug paste and a ration of water." I tried to get up again. "Make that four rations."

" _I ain't your personal butler. Get your spiny ass up and get them yourself. And don't call me dear, you haven't earned that right back yet_."

Did I? Fuck. I did. Why did you have to go and say that you numbskull? I'll just chalk it up to the hangover. That sounds good. Now, where was that light…

"Gahh!"

I found the switch but the blinding light caused more hindered more than it helped. I covered my eyes with one paw as I tried feeling around for… there. I put my shades on and it helped. Not entirely, but it helped.

There wasn't much in my room, I was never really the collector type like the others. Some dirty clothes in one pile, some not as dirty clothes in another. My weapons lay scattered across the only table in the room. I never liked putting them away. In this world, you need to be able to be armed at a moments notice. Then again my upbringing helped to instill that in me. At least I am not like Mackenzie who sleeps with her rifle like it's her one true love. Then again, an inanimate object can't hurt you like the real one. Or get hurt. I really hope Mackenzie at least sleeps with the safety on. For all our sakes.

A quick sniff of my clothes told me that I should be able to wear them one more day before I need to change. I grabbed my pistol and checked it before holstering it. I'd be back for the rest, but I felt naked without a gun on me, even if it's just a short walk to the other end of the complex.

There was a slight buzz on my wrist-mounted computer. It wasn't as fancy as those Pip-Boars I see here and there, but it had everything I needed to get a job done. I activated my communicator.

" _Hey boss, we are all eagerly awaiting you, boss._ " The tone had the typical sarcasm attached to it.

"I told you, stop calling me boss, we are all equals here."

" _Whatever you say… boss. Hey guys, better stop yammering, the boss is coming! Heh heh._ " A click announced that the communications link dropped.

I really hate that weasel. If it wasn't for his irreplaceable skills with hacking and all things mechanical, he would have been gone a long time ago. Maybe it was just me. The others don't seem to mind him, but then again it could be the drugs he is always passing out like candy. I've done too many horrible things to count in my life, but thankfully drugs never were one of them, but I don't care what they all do, so long as we get our jobs done and get paid, and we were the best at what we do.

Stopping by the makeshift mess hall I grabbed a couple flasks of water and a can of bug paste. It says it's made of 100% real insect, but it tastes like crap. At least it's crap keeping us alive and healthy. Next to the cans was a small package of dried kale chips. That had to have been Penny's. She's the only true herbivore among us, but that doesn't stop the others from mocking our species similarities. Mostly Huff though, but he has the tendency to get the others going.

I scarfed down the paste and two glasses of water. My head still ached, but it was getting better. I took a deep breath and headed to the briefing room so we could get the day underway. Two weeks without a proper job has been getting to everyone.

Our base of operations was located in what used to be some kind of department store. We had cleared this place of some savage ghouls after stumbling in here trying to find a hidden military storehouse. We found it alright, but it had been cleared long ago. Turns out though that we did manage to make something of it. The basement was fortified enough that, if properly supplied, we could live out a second nuclear war in comfort. Though supplies were starting to dwindle without any good leads. At least until today.

I reached the meeting room and everyone was already seated around the large conference table. Ellie was tossing her knives about trying to show off while Huff and Mackenzie were smoking something that smelled like burning tires.

"Everyone here? Good."

"Yeah… boss…" Huff chuckled a bit. "Tell us you got some work for us to do. Otherwise, I may have to pawn off Ellie's knife collection just to get a decent bite to eat."

Ellie barely budged as one of the knife's she was balancing landed right between two of Huff's fingers. "Touch my knives and the next one connects to something vital."

"Alright you two, knock it off. Huff, I don't want to hear another word from you until this briefing is over, and Ellie, if he acts up again, you have my permission to use his hide for target practice."

The cinnamon-colored weasel showed his displeasure in what I had just told Ellie, and when he tried to rebuke it, a small dagger whizzed past his ear. Penny sighed as Mackenzie gave her sister a high five. To an outsider, this group would probably look completely dysfunctional, and most of the time we are, but when we are working together, there is not a force that can stop us from completing our task.

"If we're done here, then maybe we can get to tell you how we are gonna be filling our bellies this week. Penny, fill them in."

I may be the one who keeps each of them from killing one another and focusing on the task, but it was Penny who got our leads with her connections, most of which she still refuses to give up who they are, but as long as she keeps providing us with intel, I really don't care.

Penny got up and stood next to me, but I could feel the tension building between us. We may be able to work together with no issues, she hasn't forgiven me, and I don't blame her. I doubt she ever would, but that doesn't change my feelings. It just makes them that much more complicated.

"Hey Ellie, look. Twins! Can barely tell them apart. Heh heh."

I gave a look to the dagger flipping red panda, but before Ellie could even muster up a dagger, Penny yanked off one of her quills and sent it flying, piercing huff right through the ear. Huff let out a high pitch squeal as he grabbed his ear.

"Dammit, you bitch! What was that for?!" Huff's typical laid-back attitude was replaced with one of shock and anger.

"Call me that again, or speak out of line once more and I will give you a matching hole, you got that?"

"Fuck. Yeah, I got it."

Rather than trying to reach a medkit, Huff grabbed some tape off of his utility belt and slapped a piece onto his ear just before shooting himself up with who knows what drugs he had with him today. He was the epitome of a wasteland junkie, but oddly enough, he does his best work when high so we don't complain too much, and as long as we keep the caps coming, he won't try to rob us blind to fuel his addiction. Trust is a shaky thing amongst us, at least for the day-to-day. Though I can always trust Huff taking some crack at Penny and I. I don't know if he's always too high to tell a hedgehog and a porcupine apart or if he gets some kind of pleasure at angering us. Knowing him it's the latter.

"Right, so if I can continue? You guys remember that ComStat array we found a few weeks back? The one that Huff generously fixed for us, at the cost of more caps than it was probably worth. Well, looks like we might finally have a return on that investment. A few hours ago we picked up a Steel Guardian signal deep within the Rainforest District."

"Rainforest District? What the hell were those tin cans doing all the way up there? A bit out of their jurisdiction don't you think?" Mackenzie's voice showed genuine surprise at the news.

"Not sure, but what we do know is that they were tracking some stray signal. The ComStat lost signal around two-forty three this morning, but from what I could tell, whatever they were tracking was of value to them."

"How can you tell?" Ellie spoke up, still flipping her daggers.

"Because a little over an hour ago I intercepted another signal from a Guardian outpost saying that a team entered the Rainforest District without proper clearance and were now MIA."

"What does that have to do with us? They probably got shot up by some of those Council bastards. What? Do the little tin cans need our help to rescue them from some evil can opener?" Huff apparently never learned the meaning of quiet. At least it wasn't directed at any of us for a change.

"Yes, the Guardians did post a message for anyone, Guardian or not, to keep a lookout for the missing team, but that's not our problem." I knew none of them cared for the Steel Guardians, and wouldn't raise a finger to help them without some cap incentives. "However, if we did locate them, dead or alive, I am sure we can squeeze a few caps out of that new Chief of theirs. No, what we are after is much, much bigger. Tell me, what are Steel Guardians good for?"

"Target practice." Mackenzie lifted up a pistol she was polishing and mimicked a gunshot with her mouth.

"Those damn tin cans are always taking all the good tech for themselves, that's what."

"Exactly. That's the smartest thing you have said all day Huff. A Guardian has two jobs, to protect the wasteland, or at least that's the bullshit they try to feed us and relocate and repurpose pre-war tech."

"What? You think they were after some tech?"

"Yep. What else would they be doing so far out of their normal patrol range?"

"Maybe they went AWOL and joined those Council bastards. Ain't the first time that's happened, and won't be the last." Huff injected himself with something else that seemed to perk him up a bit.

"Maybe, but even if that was the case, the Council has even more of a lust for pre-war tech than the Guardians do, so what better to get on their good side then finding a cache of it. Either way, all sources point towards something valuable."

I finally had their attention. Salvaging valuable tech was our forte. The past few months we have been running odd jobs just to keep our weapons and bellies full. Now that we have the potential to rake in the caps, everyone, even Huff, was all ears. Even if one of them happened to be dripping blood all over the table.

"How do we know that the loot hasn't already been plundered?"

Penny stood up, a smile on her face. "Well Ellie, you know that stray signal I mentioned? I ran it through some decoders to try to clean it up a bit. It's still hard to read but I think it's either some kind of distress signal or a location beacon. Either way, if the place had been breached and everything was taken, the systems would most likely be brought offline and that would have disabled the signal."

"And if it was a distress signal and we are greeted by some deathbots, ghouls, or other freaks?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Huff. Okay everyone, finish getting ready. We leave in thirty."

 _7:16 AM_

I always tend to pack lightly. Weapons, ammo, medical supplies, and some rations. I may be called a scavenger by some, but I like to keep an order to my stuff, and if I don't deem it useful, I either leave it behind or let one of the others take it off of me. Usually Huff. He takes anything that isn't nailed down for parts or to sell. I mean sure, there's good money in selling the junk that you can find just laying there to be taken, but I don't like to be bogged down, especially when we have to make a tactical retreat.

The pain in my head was finally fading, though it took the quiet of my room for me to remember I had it. I drank some more water to try to stay hydrated and keep the pain at bay. This will be a long trip and the last thing I need is a headache slowing me down.

Once I was satisfied with my gear I strapped on my side bags. A problem with my species is that backpacks don't really play nice with my spines. Thankfully someone must have thought of that a long time ago and created a split backpack for hedgehogs like myself and porcupines like Penny.

I still wonder what things would be like now if she had only agreed. Damn it, I can't think of something like that right now. What's done is done and nothing is changing the past. One of these days we will make that big score and go our separate ways. This team may work well together, but it won't last. Huff and Penny are in it for the caps, Mackenzie and Ellie are just bloodthirsty, and I am just trying to make amends to a past I will never forget.

Who knows, maybe this will be the big one we have all wanted.

Only one way to find out.

7:32 AM

We all met upstairs in what used to be the department store's warehouse. The front of the building resides on a semi-active trade route but what we are planning to do required us to leave through the back alleyway otherwise our guise might be blown.

Everyone was geared up and ready. Mackenzie looked like a walking arsenal while Ellie looked like she was about to open up her own butcher shop. Those two were exceptionally violent when needed to, but they still looked out for each other as twins should. Huff looked the most encumbered with all his tools and computer gear. I got my paws on a Pip-Boar once and tried to convince him that he could replace nearly all his current gear with something a bit more manageable, but he's a paranoid one. Keeps thinking those things meld with your brain and spy on your thoughts. Despite that, he took it anyway and seeing as it has never made an appearance since he either scrapped it or sold it.

Penny was only slightly more packed than me. She valued items much more than my spartan life, but she was an odd one. In the Wasteland, there are two people. The type willing to kill to survive, and the type who die so others can survive. She fits into an entirely different category. She could sweet talk a raider into stripping naked and jumping into the radioactive waters of Darkwater if she wanted to. Sure she carried a gun or two, but her silver tongue was a much more deadly weapon. Sometimes it makes me wonder if that's what happened with us. Was it all just a game to her? I think about that almost every night.

"Hey… _boss_. You look a bit out of it. Want some chems to perk you up?"

I didn't realize my thoughts had wandered so much. I snapped back into the here and now. "No Huff. Okay, people let's go over the gameplan. It's a bit of a hike to our destination, and a dangerous one at that. Once we get to the Rainforest District we will be on our own, however, Penny has set us up with a minor side mission to help us get there, and get a bit of extra aid as well. Tell them about the trouble you stirred up Penny."

"While the lot of you were busy shooting up and gearing up, I used my time to find us the safest way to the forest."

"What, you mean we won't get to kill anyone on the way? Damn." Mackenzie seemed genuinely sore about it.

"For the most part no. As Aaron mentioned, this trip will be dangerous, especially once we get into the Rainforest District. There are not many chances to restock and we have no idea what to expect once we cross the border, so we need to keep supply usage to a minimum. That means conserving as much ammo and supplies as we can."

"Unless you got us a crap ton of Stealth-Boars, can't see that happening." Huff was always the teams neighsayer.

"No, however, we will be utilizing another form of stealth. You see, I intercepted a small communication from Hope's pet hero, Olivia Springs to a rather new player in the Wasteland. Seems they have teamed up to stomp this place's slavery problems into the ground. While we normally try to stay away from such heroics, there was a small bit of information that caught my attention. There is a slave convoy passing this very building shortly."

"What? You want us to become some goody-two-shoes vigilantes and help them out? You know those hero types, they want you to kill yourself helping the 'greater good' and when you nearly do, they won't bother compensating you. We've been down that path before, no thank you." Ellie spat as she spoke those words.

"Hell no, I don't want to join their 'righteous cause'. Sure I am not the biggest fan of slavers myself, but that's not the point. The point is, we need to move undetected and this slaver caravan is moving north, along the trade routes. Trade routes that just so happen to lead just south of the Rainforest District. I already scrambled the Guardian signal I picked the transmission up on and if my red herring sticks, they will never track down this group until we are done with them. Then maybe we can try to drain a few caps out of them for doing some 'good work'."

I took over the talking as she sat down. "So here's the plan. We take that caravan by surprise, kill the lot of them and then travel under their guise of simple traders until we get where we need, afterwards we add whatever resources they have to our own and make our way into the Rainforest District. Simple really."

"What about the slaves? Gonna kill them just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?" I wondered if Mackenzie was showing sympathy for the slaves, or if she was trying to count how many bullets she will need. She may be ruthless in her killing, but she hates to waste a bullet when she doesn't need to.

"Unless they suddenly take up arms against us? No. We tell them to run far away and pretend nothing happened. Either they will live as free as they can, or they get captured or killed. Don't know, don't care."

"Harsh boss. I understand using their own trade costumes, but what if an actual slaver stops them to check on their 'wares', what then?"

I couldn't help but smile. "That's where you come in. You will be our slave."

"You want me… wait, what? What the fuck? Do I look like a slave to you? I am ten ounces of manliness wrapped in a fur of luxury! I am not gonna be fucking put on display in some rank cage for your amusement!"

"More like nine ounces of uselessness with an ounce of stupidity." Mackenzie chuckled.

"Naw, I say he's only five ounces of uselessness. The rest is a mixture of chems and stupidity." Ellie added as she and her sister shared a high-five.

"That's not fair!" Huff was not happy. Which in turn made me a bit happy. "Look, Huff, you are great at what you do, and that alone makes us all ignore the fact that you're usually high as a fucking kite, but you have shown little combat experience. Remember when we were pinned down by that group of savage ghouls and all you could do is hide in the background and mutter something about them eating your brains."

"I've read stories, man! They will turn your brain into soup and suck it out with a straw! I ain't becoming one of them, I'm too good looking to lose all my fur!"

"Will _this_ change your mind?" Penny walked over to Huff speaking in a soft and calming voice. In her paw was a small vial of liquid that seemed to shimmer like metal.

"Aww man, is… is that…" Huff was starting to salivate as his eyes looked as if they wanted to pop out of his head.

"Yup. Liquid Bliss." Penny smiled as she shook the vial back and forth, the metallic liquids shimmering in a rather mesmerizing fashion.

"Where you get that girl? That's like the ultimate high right there. I can taste it from here and I never got to taste it before. Aww man, who I gotta kill to get me that vial?"

"Five slavers, two caravan guards, and play slave for just a little bit and it's yours."

"I still don't wanna be some dank ass slave locked up in some dank ass cage."

Penny pulled out two more vials. "Got seven more where that came from. You take these three now, be a good little boy, and you can Bliss out all you want once we are done with this job. Deal?"

"Fuck yeah it's a deal! I'm gonna Bliss the fuck out. Hoo-hoo."

Huff jumped up to grab the vials but Penny put them behind her back and nestled them between her quills. "Remember, don't be getting high when we need you. Otherwise, I will just pour these vials into the nearest sewer."

"Don't be doing that babe!"

Penny looked at him and threw one of the bottles onto the ground causing the glass to break and the chrome colored chemical to disperse onto the ground. Huff cried out and took a nose dive right into the puddle but started to whine when he realized it had already thickened up.

"Don't call me babe. I can dispose of these as quickly as I got them."

"Aww man, it's already congealing. You gotta caress the Bliss, make love to it. It ain't worth shit if it's not taken right."

"Two now, seven later. Or do I need to make it one now and none later?"

Huff mumbled something to himself. I wasn't sure if Penny heard it or was just trying to psych him out, but she feigned dropping another vial and that was enough for Huff to agree to be our slaver bait.

"Well then, if we are all on the same page, let's get moving.

7:46 AM

We had been waiting outside for only a few minutes when Mackenzie alerted us to movement down the road. Raiders, and by conjunction most slavers, are not known for keeping a schedule, so we had no idea how long we would have to wait, but if Penny said that there was something coming, they would be here. Thankfully we didn't have to wait long.

We all kept hidden as the sound of the caravan got closer. I chanced a peek and saw what we were dealing with. Two large tigers, both with slave collars, were pulling a very large wagon. The whole thing was covered with a tarp, and on top sat two of the slavers. They were trying to act normal, but I could see the stock of a rifle one of them had their paws on. Trailing behind them were two heavily armored guards, Legionaries it looked like, who were scanning surroundings. I had heard that the Legionaries base was destroyed by Red-Necks and that they had been scattered, but it seems they are still taking jobs as if nothing happened.

I took a look at the road at where Ellie was hiding. To me she was invisible, but I knew she saw me. Once the caravan was passed and the two guards were near, I nodded towards her. Like a shadow, Ellie ran out without a sound and placed a knife right into the neck of the closer guard. Before the other one could react to his ally falling to the ground motionless, Ellie had a dagger planted in the same spot on him. It was almost like a dance watching her work.

Two shots went off, one following only a second after another, and the two slavers on the top collapsed as the wagon came to a halt. The rear door popped open, and the other three raiders came out, weapons at the ready. One shouted the moment they saw the dead guards and tried to take cover but Ellie was already in front of him as he dropped the rifle, both wrists cut. He stared blankly as she ran her knife across his throat.

Another shot from Mackenzie's cover and the fourth one was down. That left one more to deal with, and he had taken cover on the opposite side of the wagon. Mackenzie might be a great shot, but even she can't see through obstacles, and without a clear shot, she won't waste the round. Ellie tried to circle around but ducked back when a stream of fire erupted. Fuck, he has a flamethrower. Great.

Every time Ellie tried to maneuver, he blanketed the area with fire, not seeming to care what he caught on fire. We had to end this soon, otherwise, our cover will be up in flames. I looked at Huff and just nodded. We may not like each other, but we knew each other. Within seconds the weasel had a round sphere in paw and he chucked it high. I pulled out my revolver and aimed. Mackenzie might have the better shot, but I do not slouch myself. One pull of the trigger was all I needed as the bullet impacted on the sphere, sending out a blindingly bright light that rained down over the slaver. The fire erupted every which way, but it wouldn't last as Ellie hopped up the wagon, using it to catapult her on top of the slaver with a knife brandished in each paw. The light show only lasted ten seconds, but that was plenty of time for Ellie to finish off the mammal. She walked out from behind the wagon covered in blood and wearing a pair of darkened glasses.

"Glad I bought these. Warn me next time you wanna launch some fireworks, Aaron."

"That all of them?" I counted the bodies. Penny said a total of seven, and there were seven bodies.

"Far as I can tell," Ellie shouted towards the rooftop. "Hey, sis! See anymore?"

"You're clear! I'll be down in a moment!"

The two tigers looked to be torn between relief and worry. To them, we were one of two things, their saviors, or someone looking for a few free slaves. I nodded to Penny who had been sitting inside the building. Huff tends to shirk from a fight, but Penny knows how to handle herself, she just prefers to sit back and watch, joining in when needed, and when she does it's as if she's a completely different mammal.

She got up nonchalantly and walked over to the two tigers who were still a bag of mixed emotions.

"Shh, don't be scared." She started talking to them as if they were lost, children. "We mean no harm."

"You… saved us. Please, free us from these shackles. Our mother and sister, they are in the wagon."

I walked over and took a look. Sure enough, there were two females sitting in there. The mother looked scared but the sister, well, she just looked confused. She was just a teenager but didn't seem to show the same fear as the others. From the looks of her eyes, they must have drugged her or something. She didn't look for sound mind. That didn't matter to us.

"Yes, we did. Can't help but to rescue two cute looking kitties." Penny was swooning them with her act. She always has acted and talked like she was just as big as everyone else, despite her size difference, and it usually worked, especially with the males. "You're sister and mother are free, and so are you two darlings of course, but we have a… favor to ask."

Their thankfulness contorted back into confusion and worry.

"Don't worry, we mean no harm of course. You see, we need to get someplace, and we need to do it without being bothered. Those slavers were taking you up north, to Haven, right?" The two tigers nodded. "Well, we need to get north as well, but we are all too small to pull this big old cart. Tell you what. There is a Guardian safehouse nearby. You know, the good guys? Take us where we need to go, and then you are free to take anything on this wagon, heck, even the wagon itself. We won't be needing it to get back."

The tiger looked at each other, using their eyes to work out what to do. One of them spoke to Penny. "What about these collars?"

"Huff, you got it?"

"One second… and… bingo!"

The collars flashed a few times, beeped, then returned to the same color.

"It… it didn't work…" The tiger sounded disheartened.

"Oh, don't worry sugar, it worked. Ellie? Be a dear please."

Before the two could question Penny's words, the red panda jumped up and with deft paws unhooked the collar as it fell to the ground. Penny walked over and picked it up, the collar, the light still solid as if it had not been tampered with.

"Completely harmless. I'm sorry to scare you like that, but normally when someone is asked to take off their own explosive collar, well, you can see why I didn't simply ask. Huff! Come get your toys."

"Heh heh, my pleasure."

Huff slinked over and took the collar from Penny's paw and slowly removed the other one. He took out his toolkit and after a few moments had the explosives separated from the collar. He placed the explosives into a container and moved back to where he had been hiding.

"Now, these are not gonna blow up anymore. However, in order to get there safely, we need to play pretend. If you fellers don't mind wearing these for a bit longer, I would be very appreciative."

They were still very hesitant, but then Penny whispered something in their ears. Whatever they said changed their minds very quickly as they put on their collars back on. Ellie went over and picked the lock on the cage and freed the two women. Penny explained what was happening and the mother seemed very worried, but the brothers said it will be alright. Penny removed their collars and tossed them over to Huff. They only needed the tigers to wear them for the deception.

After everyone was briefed and an agreement was made, all of us loaded onto the wagon. Ellie and Mackenzie gathered what armor could fit them and played the part of the guards while the rest of us sat in the wagon. Huff gutted the other two collars and got sweat talked into wearing one of them as part of his 'costume'. Once he was in the cage and it was locked, once again for realism we assured him, I leaned over and asked Penny a question that was bugging me.

"What exactly did you say to make those two agree to pull this?"

"Well, I could tell that they were chem-heads. The whole family is, or at least the sister and the brothers. I thought about what I could offer them and remembered that I had a bunch of brand new vials of Liquid Bliss. Their eyes went wide and they were eager to put the collars back on them."

"Ha! Those stupid… WHAT?!" Huff must have just realized what Penny said. "Those are my drugs you are giving them! Mine!" Huff tried to open the door but the lock didn't even budge.

"Technically the ones in your possession are yours. As long as I have the others, they are still technically mine. Hey, would you rather pull the wagon yourself? Not too late."

Hugg grumbled as he dropped into a sitting position. "Yeah, whatever. You better not give away any more, and you still owe me for breaking that one!"

Penny smiled as she readjusted herself. I checked out the back to make sure that Ellie and Mackenzie were ready then we gave the command to leave. There was still too many miles between us and our destination to relax just yet, but this entire thing went without a hitch. The flamethrower was a bit of a surprise, but we've dealt with worse. Hopefully, that will be the extent of our surprises, but in the Wasteland, you can never be that lucky.


End file.
